Chapter 145 - Finding Our Way Back

Roman was utterly worried as he quickly checked Julie's pulse and then lifted her from the chair in his arms. She swayed to the side when he took her to the couch in the living room. He didn't care about the looks he received as it was something he was used to, and he didn't pay any attention to it. 

"What happened to her?" demanded Roman, his blood-red eyes shifting from Donovan to look at the new person, whom he had never seen before. 

"Julianne is fine, she was just lightly channeling her abilities," replied Donovan with a smile. "How were you able to get here through the curse?"

"The curse on the town is unstable and no longer as strong as it used all these years. Recently it's been turning feeble in certain times," replied Mr. Evans, his demeanour had slightly changed to something tamer, compared to the wildness that his eyes often tried to contain, which made him look like a sociopath. "It must be because Ms. Winters stepped into the land and Lady Opaline's blood courses through her veins. It must have created an imbalance." 

"That doesn't sound good at all," remarked Donovan, and he clicked his tongue. "If Enoch knows or finds out about it, it will be problematic." 

"Enoch?" questioned Mr. Evans.

"The vampire who was the main reason for shutting down this entire town in the middle of the day," explained Donovan in a nonchalant tone, his eyes falling on Julie, who was now unconscious. 

Knox's eyes continued to stay narrowed, and he looked genuinely disturbed by the fact of seeing the young vampire, who stood next to his daughter. He would have approved of anyone else standing near his beloved daughter, but to think that out of everyone, this was the person his daughter had chosen, his jaws lightly clenched. 

Donovan noticed it and said, "Knox, how about we two  go  and take a look at where our dear old friend Enoch is. It would be rude to leave him unattended, especially when he's been lonely "behind in the care of the young vampire, and his eyes moved to look at Mr. Evans, who gave him a slight bow, indirectly letting him know he was going to be here. 

Roman's eyes didn't leave Julie, and he ignored everything around him, focusing all his attention on her. He heard the footsteps of people leaving the room, and he moved closer to Julie, pushing her hair away from her face. 

"Who was the person in here earlier?" questioned Roman, his eyes finally leaving Julie, which fell on Mr. Evans. 

"That's her father," replied Mr. Evans because there was no point making up lies when Roman had already met Opaline the previous night. "He died years ago, before being reborn as  a raven, and lastly turning into a Corvin."

"Does every witch turn into a Corvin after their death?" 

"No. Only a few are  born into ravens, and then take time before taking the form of a Corvin," replied Mr. Evans,  while walking towards one side of the room and starting to clean. As if old habits die hard, after all, he was the servant of the La Fay's and had taken care of her family members along with their belongings. 

"Lady Opaline, had tried to build a peaceful family and maybe Master Knox was one of the few people, who held her heart, that ended up being broken."

"What happened? How did he die?" questioned Roman, coming to sit next to Julie, where there was space on the couch.

"As usual there was a feud between the vampires and the witches. The land where Lady Opaline and Master Knox had planned to raise their first daughter, it seemed to hold humans, who had been manipulated by compulsion, voiding every treaty. It was also the time when some of the witches had offered their abilities, and in return, they took the vampire's blood that held elements of immortality in it. It is why the Corvins exist even after death. Maybe not in the right form, but they continue to live," explained Mr. Evans, his eyes falling on the floor. Walking towards one spot, he bent down and knocked on it to hear the hollowness in it. 

The servant of La Fay's family continued to speak, "One could tell that it was a good deal, but somewhere, neither of them were satisfied and the lady was caught in its web. Master Knox was killed by the vampires. It took me a while to figure out who was possibly behind it."

"What's the person's name?" asked Roman, watching Evans run his fingers on the floor before he put pressure on the ground and the floor opened with a patch of square. 

"It was Joaquin Mortimer," replied Mr. Evans, his expression grim. 

"I don't think I have ever heard the name being brought up before," remarked Roman, and Mr. Evans nodded his head. 

"Most of the older vampires have got back into the shadows, without actually coming up in the front and running the show through someone. Joaquin used to send his brother Enoch, someone Mr. Donovan is aware of, because the man used to work with him. Master Knox was killed and Lady Opaline moved away from the land with her daughter, and we did the best we could to protect ourselves," said Mr. Evans, and his hand pulled out a box that he had placed in there before he was sent to another timeline. "I have tried to find both of them, but it looks like Enoch has been trapped in here, while his brother, he's the one targeting Veteris."

"Mm," Julie subconsciously winced as if she was in pain, and she moved her head and opened her eyes, gaining both Roman and Evans attention. 

"Julie," Roman's hand reached her, carefully helping her sit up and having her back lean against the couch. 

"Take this," said Mr. Evans, handing a vial to Roman that had something green inside it. "Liquify it and have her drink it. She was recently in touch with her inner self and she has a slight distortion with her vision."

Roman noticed used his ability to heat the vial, and soon the green substance turned into liquid. 

"Rome," Julie whispered his name, slightly breathless, where she felt her body was on fire and anxiousness filled in her chest. 

"I am right here," replied Roman, "I am here, don't worry," he petted the side of her head, noticing how fast her heart was beating right now. "Drink this," and he brought the glass vial near to her lips, tilting it. 

Julie felt something cold being placed near her lips, and hearing Roman's words, she parted her lips and felt something warm trickled into her mouth, and she gulped it down her throat. She wondered if it was water that she was drinking. 

"I-I feel too hot," Julie mumbled against the glass vial, and Roman's eyebrows furrowed. 

"Is this supposed to be normal?" Roman questioned Mr. Evans, and the man had a grim expression on his face. 

"It's probably her body trying to blend the abilities that she tapped into. There's a lake not too far from here," suggested Mr. Evans. "Are you able to see now?" 

Julie nodded her head as light started to seep into her vision, and it took a few seconds before she caught sight of Roman's worried look. Even though her body was going through different reactions, she was relieved seeing Roman in front of her and a second, she put her arms around him.

Roman pulled Julie into his arms while Mr. Evans murmured under his breath, "I will go take a look at the condition of the house and see if I find anything important that Lady Opaline might have left behind." Saying this, the vampire left the couple in the living room. 

Julie held on to Roman as she felt too emotional. It indeed felt like years had passed by. For a moment, when she heard Donovan say that three years had passed since she entered this place, her heart squeezed. 

"Don't leave me," whispered Julie, her eyes moistened and her voice slightly shook. 

"I would never do that," Roman placed his hand on the back of Julie's head, patting her head, "We were away for two hours, and it feels like an eternity has passed since I last saw you."

"Donovan said three years passed," mumbled Julie, closing her eyes, she took a deep whiff of Roman's expensive cologne that she identified to be his scent alone. 

A sigh escaped from Roman's lips, "Somewhere it felt that long, but you should know... even if a hundred of years pass, I will always come to find you. I will never let you go."

Julie's hands clutched on Roman's shirt, clinging on to it, while her body shuddered. Even though there were people near her earlier, she had missed Roman terribly, and all she wanted was him to be next to her. She felt overwhelmed with the amount of things she had heard and seen, known. 

Roman sniffed the smell of salt, and he quietly held her, offering her all the comfort she needed.

"Why did she end up being my mother?" came the quiet question from Julie, where her eyebrows were furrowed. 

"Some things are unexplainable and it needs to run its course to reach the final destination," Roman pulled Julie even closer, wanting to protect her from the truth that had been dropped in his absence. He hadn't mentioned it because Opaline didn't want Julie knowing about it, but the truth had been quick to reach her. 

"I have a Corvin as my father," whispered Julie, and she pulled away from Roman's embrace before coming to meet his eyes. 

Roman noticed the tear-streaked cheeks, Julie. Bringing his hands up to her face, he gently wiped them away before cupping her face. A Corvin as a parent? He didn't let surprise reach his face and instead put Julie's emotions first. 

"Did you speak to him about it?" he brushed her cheeks with the back of his hand. 

Julie shook her head, "We didn't get the time to discuss it... I didn't know what to say to him..."

"It's okay," responded Roman, and he could tell that she was confused with the current situation, even though she understood the truth. "I am sure he will be around, and you can catch up with him. At least we know the pathetic human is nowhere related to you."

"I feel very hot, Rome," complained Julie, her breathing a little on the heavier side, and it felt like the heat was getting to her. 

But Roman noticed how Willow Creek was snowing, and there was no way Julie could feel hot if it weren't for the reaction of her abilities. 

"Let us get you to the lakes that Evans spoke about," suggested Roman, and he was about to put his arms behind the back of her knees and pick her up, but Julie placed her hand on his arm. 

"Can I get a piggyback?" asked Julie, and Roman tilted his head. He turned around, and Julie put her arms around him before he hoisted behind him. 

"Worried that your father is going to catch you with a vampire holding you intimately?" questioned Roman, his words holding a hint of tease in them and Julie's legs tightened around his waist. "Easy there." 

It took Julie a second to realize what Roman meant, and her cheeks burned bright. She felt his hands grip firmly on her legs so that she wouldn't fall. Her arms tightly circled around him, and she felt the safest right now. She would wish to be nowhere else but here with him, in any form or time. 

Her body hadn't stopped reacting, and when she sighed softly, her breath let out a fog from her lips. 

"I don't know how to act around him," whispered Julie, while she let the side of her head rest on his back. 

"By the looks of it, I can tell he feels the same way with you," replied Roman as he carried her on his back. The Corvin, who was, in reality, Julie's father, held a stern expression on his face as if his emotions were dead. "I am glad to see that you are alright and nothing bad happened to you."

"I was worried," whispered Julie, and Roman felt her hands grip firmly around his shoulders. 

"Did the bridge open to this town?" 

"We saw the opening that glimmered and leaped in so that we wouldn't miss it," replied Roman, and he said, "I guess it is your presence that's changed the impact of the curse here. You hurt your hand." 

"Mm," hummed Julie, feeling a little exhausted after being sent to wherever her father had been sent to discover her abilities. "I was trying to pluck out fruits because I was hungry. I didn't know what to eat and ended up… and the vampires sniffed my blood. But I am fine," she added when she noticed him turn his head to look at her. "I found something."

"What is it?" asked Roman, and Julie pursed her lips before saying,

"My mother was familiar with Donovan… before she married my father," she filled him in, and Roman didn't comment on it. 

"She's probably the person whom he despises the most. But in a bitter way," commented Roman, and Julie stared at the snowflakes that fell from the sky. And even though the weather had turned icy cold, Julie didn't feel it. 

"Did he mention her before?" asked Julie, and Roman hummed at it. 

"A couple of times in the past when witches were brought up in the conversation," replied Roman. "What did he say?" 

"It was Knox who mentioned it, and it seemed like Donovan and my mother turned into friends, more like acquaintances later… This morning, when you said you had  met my mother, did you mean the witch?" asked Julie, and she heard him sigh. 

"I didn't mean to keep it away from you, but your mother believed it was for the best that you didn't know that she was your mother and not—"

"Natalie," Julie completed his sentence. "I met her… in the remote side of my memory of her or something that had latched on to me,  maybe her own memory probably."

"Are you okay?" 

"Mm, I think so," replied Julie, and they came to stop near the lake, where Roman got her on her feet. "There was a time when I used to be angry at Natalie. For making my life difficult and humiliating me and making me feel like I shouldn't exist… but after hearing how she ended up being my mother," she shook her head, "I couldn't hate her anymore."

"I am glad that you were able to speak to her, even if it was in a way you didn't imagine it to be," remarked Roman, knowing Julie had been heartbroken after seeing her mother's body lying cold on the floor. 

Julie felt a pain run down her body, and her knees were about to give away, but Roman caught her in time, stopping her from falling. She softly wheezed and said, "I feel like I am having a fever."

Roman placed his hand on Julie's forehead, feeling the temperature of her body had increased. 

"You are burning up," replied Roman, and with no one around, he picked Julie in his arms. He carried her to the lake, stepping in and helping her body submerge in the water, and Julie held on to him. 

"The clothes feel uncomfortable," murmured Julie, feeling her head-turning slightly dizzy. 

Roman wondered what happened that the tapping of abilities had ended with her burning with a fever. "We'll get out of here soon," he promised to her, but Julie shook her head. 

"I cannot leave… if the curse again goes back in place," replied Julie, and Roman stared at her. "I think the ability of touch and see comes from my father. Knox. I want to see how things were in here… my mother and the other people who used to live here. Also… Natalie."

"I understand," replied Roman, without tiring her by making her speak more. He finally was able to figure out why Julie couldn't be compelled. It was because she had the Corvin's abilities running through her, and the dead couldn't be compelled. 

Once Julie had calmed down, where her body temperature got back to normal, they both stepped out of the lake.

Far away from the lake, Donovan and Knox searched for Enoch. 

"I cannot sense him around anymore," said Knox with a displeased look on his face. "He must have escaped." 

"If I knew the bridge was going to open again, I would have hunted him down," murmured Donovan under his breath. "I feel like this is going to cause some serious damage in the near future."

After a few seconds, Knox remarked, "I would have never expected it from you."

Donovan turned his gaze away from the woods to feel Knox staring at him. His eyes didn't waver, and they appeared to be relaxed, "Why? Is it that surprising?"

"You never seemed to be one to care about others, let alone have a family," Knox raised his hand, noticing the tips of his fingers had turned hard and into twig-like wood as if the liquid he had soaked himself with was slowly starting to wear off. He wondered how much time he had in here. 

The smile on Donovan's lips spread wide, and he said, "I should have known that you have keen eyes. Things that others don't see, you see them more clearly."

Knox' jaw clenched, and he stared at Donovan, not liking this little development. He said, "It's good to know that there's someone who has been able to tolerate you than yourself. " 

A chuckle escaped from Donovan's lips, "His mother doesn't live as she passed away from illness and he's all I got now."